Infusion package



Sept 16, 1958 K. R. JOHNSON INFUSION PACKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 6, 1954 MVEJQTO Qdcnneirk Q. j x do CA wn Sept. 16, 1958 K. R. JOHNSON INFUSION PACKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 6, 1954 Sept. 16, 1958 K. R. JOHNSON INFUSION PACKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 6. 1954 58 m (K .t c we 3) 2,5 pg /Liwafga ENFUSION PACKAGE Kenneth R. .iohnson, Rockford, 111., assignor to iiartelt Engineering Company, Rockford, 111., a corporation of illinois Application August 6, 1954, Serial No. 448,261

4 Claims. (Cl. 99-771) This invention relates to an infusion. package containing tea, coffee, or the like, comprising a water pervious bag adapted to be suspended in the brewing water by a flexible element such as a string or tape attached at one end to the bag and at the other end to a tag which initially and during shipment of the package is secured detachably to the bag and torn off from the same preparatory to the brewing operation.

One object is to provide an infusion package of the above character in which the tag is utilized-to conceal or hold the flexible element in an out of the way position during packaging and handling of the bag but permits quick exposureand extension of the element as an incident to separating the tag from the bag.

Another'object is to fold or otherwise fashion. the flexible element into a compact unit capable of being concealed beneath a wall formed by the tag when attached to the bag.

A further object is to provide for concealment of the flexible element between the laminae of a double walled tag.

Still another object is to. attach one end of the element to the tag ina novel manner to protect the fastening during separation of the tag from the bag.

The invention also resides in the novel construction of the contracted flexible element and the manner ofits attachment to the bag and tag so as to facilitate: formationof the entire package in high speed. automatic. machinery.

Other'objects and advantages of the invention will. become apparent from the following detailed description taken connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view partially broken away and showing a tea package embodying the novel features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front view.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view showing the. parts of the tag.

Fig. 4' is a fragmentary section taken along the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tea package with the tag separated therefrom.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of a modified form of the tea package.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the modified form of tea package. 7

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 38 of Fig. 7. i V V Fig. 9 is an exploded view of the modified form of tag.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the modifiedtag.

The infusion package shown for purposes of illustration includes a measured quantity 10 of tea, coffee or the like enclosed within a bag or pouch 11 having relatively square front and rear panels 12 composed of the long fiber water pervious paper such as that now in common use and adapted to become fused together under heat and pressure. Herein, all four side margins of the panels are joined by heat seal seams 13 and 14 which are of narrow width but extend all the way to the edges of the bag.

The tea bag thus constructed may be suspended in the brewing water by an elongated flexible element 15 of the usual length fastened at one end 16 to one of the marginal heat sealed areas and at the other end 17 to a tag 18 of heavier material than thebag and of any desired shape but substantially smaller than the bag. The element 15 is substantially longer than any dimension of the tag and may comprise a length of string as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 or a narrow tape or ribbon (Figs. 6 to 10) which may be composed of the same very flexible material as the bag walls.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the tag is composed of two laminae 19' and 20 of paper formed of or coated with heat sealable plastic material. The laminae may be formed from separate strips of paper or from a. single strip bent intermediate its ends to form a fold at one end of the tag. In either case the walls 19 and 20 are brought face to face, these walls then being heat sealed together over a portion of their areas. For a purpose to appear later, the tag wall 19 is made longer than the other to provide a projecting tab 22 whose inner coated surface is thus exposed so that it may be fastened securely to the outer surface of the bag seam 13 by heat sealing as indicated at 24. locates the shorter wall 20 adjacent the bag with its upper edge 25 disposed short of the seal 24 and thus free. The double walled tag thus attached to the bag lies against the outer surface of one of the bag panels and is spaced inwardly from all of the other three sides of the bag.

While the entire tag including both of its walls may be stripped off from the bagto extend the string or tape, it is preferred to remove only part of the tag by tearing the wall 19 along a transverse line 26 disposed adjacent and paralleling the tab 22 and defined by perforations or slits spaced along this line to weaken the wall. The latter may be severed easily by grasping the end portion 21 of the tag with the fingers of one hand and tearing thesame away from the bag while the latter is being held by gripping the tab 22 and the attached bag margin with the other hand. Since the tear line extends across' tab 22. This is accomplished by extending the element end outwardly and transversely across the tab so that, in the operation of heat-sealing the tab to the bag, the end will be fastened securely not only to the bag but also to the under side of the tab whose full length is heat sealed to the bag seam 13 and thus holds the element end firmly in place. The fastening is not disturbed or subjected to rupturing stresses during detachment of the tag from the bag.

To provide equally eifective anchorage for the other end17 'of the flexible string or tape, the latter is extended in between the outer ends of the heat seal before the latter are compressed under heat and pressure to form the seal at end portion 21 by which the tag end is joined firmly to a substantial length of the ring. By locating the anchorage intermediate the sides of the tag, the point of anchorage is itself clamped firmly by the user when gripping the tag during detachment of the latter from the bag. There is therefore little danger of breaking the fastening between the string and either the tag or the bag during the use of the tea bag.

The invention contemplates shortening that portion of the string or tape between the anchored points by bend- Patented Sept. 16, 1958' This ing, folding, or looping so as to produce a compacted mass which is no longer than the tag and may be concealed by and held beneath the wall 19. To this end and where the flexible element is a string, the shortening may be achieved by bending the string back and forth accordion fashion as it progresses along the tag so as to form a series of parallel runs 28 extending across the tag and connected on opposite margins of the tag by U-shaped loops 29 which may, if desired, extend somewhat beyond the tag margins but herein are spaced inwardly from the tag margins whose walls may, after location of the compacted string mass within the tag, be heat sealed together as indicated at 3%. Where the tag is not formed with such side seams, parts of the compacted string mass may be secured to one of the tag walls so as to remain in place during packaging and handling of the finished bag but be releasable easily when the tag is torn oil. One way of thus tacking the string parts temporarily to the inner surface of the tag walls is to form short heat seals along the string length. As an alternative, the string runs 28 may be covered by a separate adhesive strip (not shown) such as a piece of masking tape.

Where the connecting element 15 is a flexible tape (Figs. 6 to 10), it may be accordion pleated with one pleat 3i lying on top of the next and the entire mass several layers disposed between the tag walls and extending longitudinally of the latter. The mass is shorter than the unsealed length of the tag and the ends 16 and 17 of the tape at the ends of the terminal pleats projectingbeyond the opposite sets of folds 32 so as to be heat scalable respectively to the tab .22. and also within the outer end 21 of the tag. The compactness of the tape mass may be improved by spacing the folds 32 progressively along the mass to form a stepped arrangement shown in Fig. 9. In this. form of connection between the tag and the bag, it will be observed that the entire pleated mass of tape is disposed wholly within the tag and, in spite of its freedom to expand longitudinally when tension is applied upon separation of the tag, there is no possible way of the connection being disturbed in subsequent handling of the tea bag.

it will be recognized that the'fiexible connecting element 15 may take various other forms depending on whether it is a string or a tape and the manner of its formation in automatic machine production. When a string is used, for example, the shortening may be achieved by knitting or interlocking loops which unravel under tension. Sr, the element may be doubled and wound into a loop spiraled within the tag.

With the tag and string or tape constructed and assembled together and the tag attached to the bag in the manner described above, the string is concealed efiectually within the tag and there are no loose or projecting loops to become tangled with the strings or tags of other bags when a group of the tea bags are packaged together in a carton. The tag itself is free to fiex toward and away from the bag but owing to its relative stiffness and its attachment of one edge to the bag, the tag remains flat against the bag until its free end is grasped by the user and stripped away from the bag. In this movement, the tag wall 19 is severed along the line 26 and, as the tag is separated from the bag, the string or tape mass 15 is extended and pulled out of the interior of the tag. The string remains attached firmly to the tag and bag so that the latter may be suspended in a cup or the like while the tag is held above or overhangs the edge of the cup. it will be observed that all of the operations required for arranging the string or tape into the compacted mass,

forming the double walled tag and assembling the two and attaching the tag unit to the bag are susceptible of being performed by automatic machinery and therefore at low cost.

I claim as my invention:

1. An infusion package comprising a bag having a heat seal seam closing the bag along one margin, a tag comprising two walls secured together at one end and one of said walls having at the other end a tab projecting beyond the end of the other of said walls, a heat seal joining the inner surface of said tab to said seam, and a flexible element longer than the tag contracted between and concealed within the walls of said tag with one end clamped between said tab and seam and the other end heat sealed to said walls, said tag wall being weakened along a transverse line disposed adjacent but short of said heat seal to facilitate tearing of the tag away from the bag while leaving said tab attached to the bag.

2. An infusion package comprising a bag having a heat seal seam closing the bag along one margin, a tag comprising two walls secured together at one end and one of said walls having at the other end a tab projecting beyond the end of the other of said walls, a heat seal joining the inner surface of said tab to said seam, and a flexible element longer than the tag contracted between and concealed within the walls of said tag with one end clamped between said tab and seam and the other end heat sealed to said walls, said tag wall being weakened along a transverse line disposed adjacent but short of said heat seal to facilitate tearing of the tag away from the bag while leaving said tab attached to the bag, the unanchored portion of said element being folded back and forth zig-zag fashion between the tag walls so as to be concealed entirely within the latter.

3. An infusion package comprising a bag having a seam along one margin, 21 double walled tag attached at one end to said seam, and a flexible element longer than said tag disposed between the walls thereof with one end attached to said bag at said seam and the other end secured between said Walls at the free end of the tag, the intermediate part of said element being bent into a series of loops forming an extensible mass shorter than the length of said tag and lying in a common plane within the tag.

4. An infusion package having, in combination, a bag, a detachable tag comprising a flat wall member lying against one side of the bag and having an edge attached to the bag but adapted to be stripped off and separated from the bag, an elongated flexible element connected at one end to said wall member and at the other end to said bag, said element being folded back and forth accordion fashion to form a compacted mass disposed beneath and against the inner surface of said wall member so as to remain concealed thereby until the member is stripped from the bag to straighten out said element, and a second member extending across at least a part of the inner surface of said wall member and joined to the wall member thereby to hold said element against said inner surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Salfisberg Apr. 26, 1949 

1. AN INFUSION PACKAGE COMPRISING A BAG HAVING A HEAT SEAL SEAM CLOSING THE BAG ALONG ONE MARGIN, A TAG COMPRISING TWO WALLS SECURED TOGETHER AT ONE END AND ONE OF SAID WALLS HAVING AT THE OTHER END A TAB PROJECTING BEYOND THE END OF THE OTHER OF SAID WALLS, A HEAT SEAL JOINING THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID TAB TO SAID SEAM, AND A FLEXIBLE ELEMENT LONGER THAN THE TAG CONTRACTED BETWEEN AND CONCEALED WITHIN THE WALLS OF SAID TAG WITH ONE END CLAMPED BETWEEN SAID TAB AND SEAM AND THE OTHER END HEAT SEALED TO SAID WALLS, SAID TAG WALL BEING WEAKENED ALONG A TRANSVERSE LINE DISPOSED ADJACENT BUT SHORT OF SAID HEAT SEAL TO FACILITATE TEARING OF THE TAG AWAY FROM THE BAG WHILE LEAVING SAID TAB ATTACHED TO THE BAG. 